Plastic novelty and method of making the same



Dec. 3o, 1958 2,866,575

J. J. LATTUCA PLASTIC NOVELTY AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed June26, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Il: v l.

' INVENTOR. f6 f\\\\. MM BY W L Q TTRNE YS Dec. 30, 1958 J. J. LATTUcA2,865,575

PLASTIC NOVELTY AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed June 26, 1956 2Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

AT TORNE YS vBY nitd StatCS PLASTIC NVELTY AND METHOD F MAKING THE SAMEJohn J. Lattuca, Hempstead, N. Y., assigner to Best PlasticsCorporation, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June26, 1956, Serial No. 593,845

4 Claims. (Cl. 2241-94) It is an object of the invention to provide animproved container made of sheet material and especially suitable formanufacture from sheets of thermo-plastic material. Another object ofthe invention is to provide a container constructiony which can bemanufactured at much lower cost than comparable containers of the priorart.

In accordance with one feature of the invention the 'i containers foruse as party favors are molded from sheet material and shaped so thatindividual containers nest within one another and have handles which liein at positions where they do not interfere with the nesting. A customerwho buys a group of nested containers separates them and bends thehandles upwardly into operative positions at the time that thecontainers are set out to be used. After use, the handles can bereturned to their original positions and the favors can be nestedtogether again for storage until the next time they are needed.

Another feature of the invention relates to the construction of thehandles of the containers so that different handles bent upwardly fromopposite sides of the favors l are conveniently locked together to holdthem in their raised positions and even though the connections of thehandlesto the body of the container remain stressed for separating thehandles when the connection between them is released.

It is anothei object of the invention to provide a simple i andinexpensive method of making a party favor of the character indicated.The preferred method of making the party favors consists of vacuumforming the individual containers from dierent sheets of plastic; and .H

then shearing groups of the containers from the unformed portions of thesheets by first stacking a group of the formed sheets together beforeplacing them in the shear. The portions of the handles which are to besheared from the remainder of the container are preferably severed as apart of the same shearing operation which cuts the containers from theunformed portions ofthe plastic sheets.y j

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear orbe pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like referencecharacters indicate corresponding parts in all the views:

Figure l is a side elevation, partly broken away and in section, showinga container of this invention made to resemble a basket and for use as aparty favor;

Figure 2 is an end view of the party favor shown in Figure 1, part ofthe view being broken away and in section;

Figure 3 is atop plan view of the party favor shown in Figures l and 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged, detailed view showing the tongue and the slitconstruction for holding the handles together; 7

' Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure3; p

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the party favor shown in Figure 3 beforethe handles are bent up into operative position;

Figure 7 is a sectional view, on a reduced scale, on the line 7--7 ofFigure 6, and showing the location of the handles before theirintermediate portions are severed from the other part of the container;

Figure 8 is a diagrammatic, sectional view illustrating the way in whichthe containers are made by vacuum forming;

Figure 9 is a top plan view, on a reduced scale, showing a plastic sheetafter it is formed by the vacuum forming step illustrated in Figure 8;and

Figure 10 is a diagrammatic view illustratingthe way in which the formed-containers are cut from the unformed portions of the sheet and thehandles are cut from the sides of the container, along portions of theirlength, in the same operation as the one which cuts the containers fromthe sheet.

The container shown in Figure 1 is shaped to resemble a basket andincludes a body portion 10 having a bottom 11 and side walls 12. Theside walls have embossing 14 to simulate reeds or straw from which abasket would be woven.

At diametrically opposite locations, there are projections 16 extendingfrom the top edgeof the side walls 12; and there are handles 17 and 18connected to these projections 16 along the radially extending sides ofthe projections. The handles 17 and 18 are shaped so that when they arebent upwardly they form bows' across the open top of the container, andthere are decorations 20 at the middle of each of the handles 17 and 18.

Figure 2 shows the way in which the handles 17 and 18 are bent upwardlyfrom one of the projections 16. The entire container, including the bodyportion 10, projection 16, handles 17 and 18, and decorations 20 arepreferably made of one piece of sheet material. The embossing and theshape of the container increases the stiffness so that sheets of lightergauge can be used than would otherwise be the case. The handles 17 and v18 are of concave-convex cross section. This cross section increases thestiffness of the handles and also makes the appearance more realistic.

In order to keep the handles 17 and 18 in their upright positions, thereare fastening means on the decorations 2? for attaching the decorationsof the different handles together. This construction is best shown inFigures 3 and 4. A tongue 24 projects from the decoration` 2t) of handle1'7, in position to extend into a slit 27 in the decoration 20 at themiddle of the handle 18.

In the illustrated construction, the tongue 24 is formed las an arrowhead and has shoulders 26 which catch behind an edge of the slit 27 toprevent the tongue 24 from pulling out of the slit 27 after it has beenfully inserted. The tongue 24 is also made with a slight concaVo-convextransverse curvature which assists in making the shoulders 26 catchbehind the edge of the slit 27.

Figure 6 shows the shape of the handles 17 and 18 with respect to thecircumference of the top edge of the side walls 12. The ,structure isdesigned so that when the handles 17 and 18 are in their downwardpositions, their inner edges are immediately adjacent to thecircumferential top edge of the body portion 10. Thus the handles 17 and18 can be molded directly from the portion of the sheet materialimmediately beyond the in :genders tended top edge of the side wall, andthe handles are then severed from the side wall along the intermediatepart of their extent by a `direct shearing action and withoutthenecessity of `removing any material from between the body of thecontainer andthe handles. This not only savesmateriahbut it alsosimplifies the manufacture of ithe container and is` one of the factorsin the low cost ot the container.

The sheet material `from which the container is made is preferably aplastic and one which is stiiily ilexible at Vroom temperature. Thisexpression stiiily flexible is used herein to designate a material whichwill hold its shape when undisturbed and which will spring back to shapewhen distorted moderately by the application of force that bendsit. Whenthe handles 17` and lare bentupwardly at angleslof approximately 90 tothe projections 16 to which the ends 1of the handles are connected,`this `bendwill ordinarily crease the sheet material since it is bentbeyond its elastic limit but it does not break. Heavy paper can be usedto make the containers of this invention, but thermo-plastic sheets ofplastic material are preferred;`

Figure 8 illustrates a vacuum forming operation diagrammatically. Athermo-plastic sheet 30 is held in a clamping frame 32 while the sheetis heated by heaters 34. Radiant heaters areordinarily employed.

Whenithe sheet 30 has been heated above its softening point, it is drawndown over a mold 36 by a vacuum created under the sheet 30 and withinthe clamping frame 32. T his vacuum draws the sheet down tightly overthe contours ofthe mold 36 and against the supporting plate 37 to whichthe mold 36 is connected. The vacuum frame 32 `moves downwardly to theposition indicated by the dotted lines. Such vacuum forming operationsare well understood in the molding art and no further explanation ofthis step is necessary for a complete understanding of the invention.

Because of thelarge surfacearea and small massof the sheet 30, the sheetcools quickly and can be stripped from the mold 36 `almost immediatelyafter being formed. Figure 9 is a top plan view of the formed sheet andthe line along which the formed portion is to be severed from thesurrounding unformed flat areas is indicated by dashed lines in Figure9. 'The linesalongwhich part of thelength of each handle 17 or 18 is tobe severed from `the body 10` of the container is indicated bydotted-lines in Figure 9.

`Figure 10 is a diagrammatic illustration of the cutting or shearingoperation. A group offormed sheets 30 are preferably nested together andplaced over an anvil 40 which holds the formed sheets againstdisplacement. A die 42 makes the cuts which are indicated in dottedlines in Figure 9 and another die 43 makes the cut which is indicated indash lines in Figure 9. These dies 42` and 43 operate in conjunctionwith stripper plates 45 and 46, respectively, and the stripper platesare provided with springs 48 and suitable guides in accordance withconventional practice.

It will be understood that the apparatus shown in Figure l is merelydiagrammatic and representative of the nal cutting or shearing step bywhich the containers of the invention are made. It will be understoodfurther that the formed containers can be severed from the surroundingunformed areas of the sheet without first nesting a group ofvcontainers, but the nesting reduces the number of shearing operationsand it is desirable to have the containers nested for purposes ofstorage and shipment.

The preferred embodiment of this invention has been illustrated anddescribed, but changes and modifications can be made and some featurescan be used in different combinations without departing from theinvention as described in the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A party favor basket comprising a single sheet ot thermoplasticmaterial formed to include a bottom and a side wall of self-supportingthickness and that diverges upwardly and at a progressively increasingrate of divergence toward the upper end of the side wall and to a topedge that extends around the basket along a curved line, two bow-shapedhandle portions of the basket extending along the top edge thereof andcut therewith, each ofthe handle portions extending along most of thelength of one-half of the top edge, each handle portion being embossedto stiffen it but being of substantially the same thickness across itsfull Width and of the same thickness as the top edge, outwardprojections at opposite sides of the basket, the handle portions beingintegrally connected at their ends to opposite sides of the projectionsand being separate from the rest of the basket elsewhere and curvingoutwardly and upwardly away from said projectionsand having their midportions connected togetherabove the said portion of the basket.

2. The party favor described in claim l and in which each of the handleshas a complementary portion at the top and center of the bow shaped toengage the complementary portion of the other handle to connect thehandles together.

3. Theparty favor described in claim l and in which one of the handleshas a tongue extending toward the other handle and the other handle hasa portion with a slit for engagement by the tongue to connect thehandles together.

4. The party favor described in claim l and in which `one of the handleshas a decorative embossed portion at its mid region with a tongue ofone-piece construction with the rest of the handle portion and extendingtherefrom toward the other handle, and said other handle has a`corresponding embossed decorative region of one piece `construction withthe rest of the handle portion and with a slit for receiving the tongue,the tongue being shaped like an arrowhead to provide shoulders thatcatch behind the ends of the slit to prevent-the tongue from beingfwithdrawn from the slit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

